Under-Pressure Personality Profile
Under Pressure uses 44 International Personality Item Pool statements to assess 11 named scales. Respondents complete 44 items using 1–5 ratings. Keyed responses are summed separately for each reported scale.
At a glance
What it measures
The Under-Pressure Personality Profile assembles 44 public-domain IPIP items into eleven scales for tendencies that can surface under stress or pressure — mood and self-regard, mistrust of others' motives, social unease, withdrawal, taking charge, and related patterns. It describes dispositional style, not psychopathology.
Each tendency is reported separately against Eugene–Springfield Community Sample reference values (norms section below). Because 'under pressure' behavior is context-dependent, standings are best read as characteristic leanings rather than predictions for any specific situation.
Psychometric properties
The notes below are reproduced from the platform's psychometrics register for this instrument — the same source-cited reliability, validity, and norms text that accompanies its downloadable report.
Items are drawn from the IPIP public-domain pool targeting personality constructs relevant to stress reactions and coping under challenge. Subscale reliabilities are not available from a single published study for this exact operationalization.
The construct dimensions map onto established personality facets (e.g., neuroticism, conscientiousness) that predict stress reactivity, coping style, and performance under pressure across meta-analytic reviews. Item selection follows IPIP convergent-validity standards.
Scores are expressed as percent-of-maximum on the 1–5 accuracy scale using Higher/Average/Lower bands. No population normative tables have been published for this specific item configuration.
Subscales
Excitable 4 items
how down on yourself and discouraged you say you feel, weighed against how easily stressed or desperate you say you feel
Skeptical 4 items
how much you feel short-changed by life and suspect that others have hidden motives or are out to get something from you
Cautious 4 items
how uneasy you feel approaching people outside your circle and how readily nervousness or panic sets in
Reserved 4 items
how much you keep to yourself and take little pleasure in company, weighed against staying in the background or finding your experiences dull
Leisurely 4 items
how firmly you steer away from fights, conflict, rule-breaking, and doing the opposite of what is asked (scored from reverse-keyed conflict items)
Bold 4 items
how much you take charge of others, enjoy authority, and put yourself on show
Mischievous 4 items
how drawn you are to danger and frightening thrills, weighed against how impulsively you say you react and speak
Colorful 4 items
how confident a performer, persuader, and conversation-starter you see yourself as
Imaginative 4 items
how much you prefer variety over routine, value art, and reach for complex words and insightful remarks
Diligent 4 items
how much you want every detail handled and things to run on plans, schedules, and routine
Dutiful 4 items
how much you lean on others' opinions and approval, follow your conscience, and avoid confrontation
Example item
“Dislike myself.”
Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.
Scoring & interpretation
Item responses are summed within each scale (reverse-keyed items recoded first) and expressed as a population percentile against the cited reference sample, with a reliability-based confidence range where α is published.
Psychometrics & norms
| Scale | M | SD | N | α | Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leisurely | 17.31 | 2.53 | 795 | 0.56 | summed raw |
| Colorful | 12.04 | 3.29 | 516 | 0.62 | summed raw |
| Imaginative | 13.93 | 2.82 | 600 | 0.51 | summed raw |
| Diligent | 14.76 | 2.69 | 600 | 0.62 | summed raw |
Norms computed from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (ESCS) — Lewis R. Goldberg’s adult community panel from Eugene and Springfield, Oregon (Harvard Dataverse, doi:10.7910/DVN/UF52WY). This is a community sample and is NOT nationally representative. The mean, standard deviation, reference N and Cronbach’s α were computed directly from the raw IPIP item-level responses on THIS scale’s exact item set and reverse-keying (complete cases); reference N varies by scale and is shown with each scale below. The confidence range uses the standard error of measurement (SEM = SD·√(1−α)) from that computed α.
Source & citation
Items drawn from the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), placed in the public domain. Goldberg, L. R., et al. (2006). The International Personality Item Pool and the future of public-domain personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(1), 84–96.
References
- Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. Personality Psychology in Europe, 7, 7-28.
- Bolger, N., & Zuckerman, A. (1995). A framework for studying personality in the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 890-902.